Panther6834

iTrader: (2)

Best suggestion I can come up with is to call AMain, and find out. They might have received enough units to cover current pre-orders, but are still accepting "pre-orders" through the original release date. That's how I got my 8ight-XE.

Medicinal Coma

iTrader: (7)

thirtydaZe

iTrader: (39)

Can someone explain to me what increasing/decreasing Shock Stroke does? The kit setup calls for front stroke to be 21.0 mm, and the rear 28.0 mm. Looking at the Frank Root setup sheet, he has is front set to 23.5 front, and 30.5 rear.
Also, where I race we have a couple TLR drivers, looking at their setup sheets, they have theirs setup similarly as well.

I can't really find an explanation in the setup guides i've seen, so hoping someone can straighten me out on the topic.

I_NeedBigDrink

iTrader: (4)

I increased it to give the car extra absorption on large jumps, especially on the front. Before, the buggy would chassis slap more easily and took longer to get settled, but I didn't want to sacrifice the small bump performance. Increasing the stroke/droop and adjusting the preload gave the buggy more time/distance between touching the wheels to the ground and full compression, so now it lands more gracefully and I can get back on the throttle quicker, while using the same oil and springs as before.

Panther6834

iTrader: (2)

Just curious, but what is your front / rear clearance? Following (for the most part) the stock setup sheet, I ended up with 21.5mm front / 26mm rear. After adjusting the rear preload, I was able to match the front / rear clearance to 21.5mm.

I_NeedBigDrink

iTrader: (4)

Right now I'm at 25mm front 26mm rear. Will play around with decreasing it by a mm or two in the future but I'm happy with it now.

Panther6834

iTrader: (2)

What is your track like? Small, medium, or large? More flat, or lots of jumps? Dirt, clay, carpet? The reason I'm asking is to figure out if the 21.5mm setting might be best, or something closer to what the rear originally was (ie. 26mm), as our track (NorCal Hobbies) was recently redone. How the track used to be, 21.5mm would be about perfect...however, with the new track, there are less straightaways, more (and some tighter) turns, more jumps, a "rumble-strip", and a short section of "three steps down". In other words, the track has been made more technical...thus my thinking something closer to 26mm. Obviously,. I know I need to hit the new track (which I had planned to do yesterday, except the wife got sick, and I had to "play nurse") myself to determine if any changes are needed, but I'd like to be prepared in-advance, if possible.

I_NeedBigDrink

iTrader: (4)

previous layout:
new layout has 1 long straight and an inner area with multiple jumps immediately followed by sharp 180s, a set of stairs, a small whoops section, so I think my current setup will do well, I can easily get the rear turned around when I need to, and it'll absorb the smaller obstacles.

RazorRC

iTrader: (5)

The TLR setup sheets (like Frank's) usually have the +2mm shock towers, and you need to add 2mm to your shock lengths to compensate. I think that's why you see such long shock lengths on those setup sheets. If you subtract 2mm from those lengths, you get pretty close to stock lengths.

toddmanley

HIt me up if you're at Norcal (you can't miss me as being 6'9" is pretty easy to spot) - I can give you some pointers on the buggy. I run my ride height at 20mm (up from 18mm when the track used to be really smooth). My setup is really close to a local pro guy who I raced with a few weeks ago at the Team Powers Cup where he came in second overall. Once you get a good setup at Norcal it only takes a couple of small tweaks to get the buggy adjusted to track changes/updates.

Panther6834

iTrader: (2)

10-4

thirtydaZe

iTrader: (39)

ah yeah, i see that now. thanks for pointing that out.

Team Pink

iTrader: (20)

If running at Norcal Hobbies I would highly suggest sticking at the 20-21mm ride height range for their current layout. When I was there for the Team Powers Cup I ran my 22 5.0 at 20mm front and rear without issues. Running 26mm ride height in 2wd is awfully high and will not handle well. Todd Manley is currently running something based off the setup I ran and really liking it. If you have any questions please message me.

Panther6834

iTrader: (2)

Just curious, but are you aware they redid the track since that race? The newly-created track is more technical, has more jumps, only one straightaway (compared to the previous two), a rumblestrip, a "three-steps-down" section...oh, yea, and the track is running in the opposite direction (the old track had the start/finish straightaway running right-to-left, while the new track has it left-to-right).

That being said, I will look for Todd the next few times I'm there...once work doesn't have me so busy. Since finishing the buggy, every time I've been ready to take it to the track, work has "interfered" with switching my schedule around. Thankfully, I WILL be taking an entire week off in a few weeks, to spend every day at the track.

trf211

One things others didn't cover is weight transfer.

More droop / increasing shock stroke - more droop will allow more weight to shift to the opposite side of the buggy it is applied to. So if you add more droop in the front it will allow more weight transfer to the rear on throttle, taking some pressure off the front tires and onto the rear tires. This will reduce on throttle steering in trade for more rear drive/grip. When you apply more droop to the rear suspension it allows more weight shift forward in a corner, this will give more off power steering/front grip while reducing the stability. For 2wd it's harder to use the brakes as more weight is shifted off the rear wheels.

Less droop / decreasing shock stroke- the opposite of the above. Less droop on the front will increase the steering on throttle because less weight is allowed to shift off the front tires. Less droop on the rear will reduce steering off power by keeping more weight on the rear tires, increasing stability. For 2wd you can use stronger brakes with less droop without sacrificing much stability.

Weight transfer left/right - Droop will also change how much weight is possible to be shifted from the inner wheels to the outer wheels in a corner. The more droop you run the higher the inside of the buggy can lift in a corner, keeping the center of gravity high and putting a lot of pressure on the outer tire. This can produce a tippy and unstable feeling if you have too much droop and a high traction surface. Reducing droop will keep the buggy flatter and spread the weight more evenly on all the tires, reducing overall side bite for more stability.

Droop and response - Increasing front droop will allow more on throttle traction but the buggy will feel sluggish to enter the next corner because the front end has lifted higher than before and it will take longer to settle into its roll and push the tires back into the track. Increasing rear droop will allow the rear wheels to unweight longer in a corner which can reduce response for quick back to back corners like a chicane.

For these reasons more droop can help with bumpy, or tight, or low speed tracks where you need more off power steering for tight sections and stability over bumps and jumps. For flat high speed, high grip tracks you can use less droop for more stability in corners and more on throttle steering. Like with all adjustments the goal is to find the balance of grip, stability, and response that works for you. And as others mentioned droop is tied in with other adjustments like tower height, shock eyelet length, shock position ect ect. So if you're trying someones setup for your track it is important to use the exact setup otherwise it might not work as intended.